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Beekeepers look to next year for honey exemption

COLUMBIA - It's been an turbulent journey for a freshman lawmaker, Rep. Tom Corbin, and the state's ardent beekeeping community.

The beekeepers had asked state regulators to propose a regulation that was supposed to give the little South Carolina beekeeper a break. It called for changing state regulations so that producers of 150 gallons of honey or less were exempt from using a certified "honey house" facility.

But Corbin had led a charge to get the S.C. Department of Agriculture to withdraw the regulation. He wanted to increase the volume of honey that was exempt but also press for a more controversial effort to exempt private individuals who sell pickled okra and other homemade goods from having a state-inspected kitchen.

In March, Corbin introduced H. 4005, which would have allowed producers of 400 gallons of honey or less to sidestep the onerous "honey house" requirement.

On May 27, the Greenville County Republican heralded his bill's passage by the S.C. House.

"Well, Rep. Honeybee got his bill passed. 119-0," wrote the lawmaker in an email to a reporter. He was referring to a nickname House colleagues had chosen for him.

But last week the General Assembly wrapped up its regular legislative year, leaving the honey proposal and numerous others just shy of passage into law. Corbin's bill had passed the House but received only two of the required three readings by the Senate.

"It looks like the laws remain the same with high hope for change next season," wrote Steve Seigler, an Edgefield beekeeper who has been among the most engaged over the issue.

"But I still I send thanks to those involved," he wrote as part of a legislative update to dozens of area beekeepers.

Seigler and others acknowledge the turbulence surrounding the effort to ease costs and regulations on beekeepers who produce very little honey.

"It has been a long haul with a few bumps in the road and, heck, a few canyons also. Maybe even a few fires in the canyons!" wrote Seigler.

State lawmakers will return to the Capitol on Tuesday for a brief session with a limited focus on the budget, redistricting and a few other specific issues. The second year of the two-year General Assembly begins in January.